When the United States wrestling team arrived at 3 a.m. on Saturday at an airport hotel outside Iran’s capital, Tehran, staff members ordered out for pizza.

“We were all over the lobby, eating out of the boxes,” said Rich Bender, the executive director of Team USA. The wrestlers had just flown in from the western Iranian city of Kermanshah, where the team lost the Freestyle Wrestling World Cup to Iran, in a series of thrilling matches.

At a time of increasing tension between the countries, how were the athletes received and what did they think about Iran?

Kyle Snyder, an Olympic gold medalist, said his mother had been a bit worried when he told her he would travel to Iran. But he said the team was welcomed with nothing but friendliness.

“They gave us roses at the airport, brought our bags, everyone wanted to take selfies with us,” Snyder said. “This was the best tournament I have ever participated in, even better than the Olympics in Rio.”

Later on Saturday, during a sightseeing trip, the wrestling team took to the landmark Milad Tower in Tehran, and excited Iranians took pictures of the team.

Jordan Burroughs, an Olympic champion, said he has more fans in Iran’s capital “than from any other city.”

For a time, it had seemed the American wrestlers would be forced to stay home. After President Trump announced that Iran would be included in a travel ban, the country decided it would reciprocate by barring the team. But the Iranian authorities changed their minds after seeing numerous protests in the United States against the ban.

Burroughs said that he was disappointed when he heard of the issues with the travel ban. “I don’t necessarily agree with all decisions by my government, and clearly not with this one,” he said of the now-halted order barring travel by Iranians and citizens of six other predominantly Muslim countries to the United States. “I have never been affected by terror, but here in Iran, I have never felt any ill will toward me — the opposite actually.”

Iranian fans cheered the American wrestlers during matches against competitors from Azerbaijan, Russia and Georgia. “They were just screaming Jordan, Jordan, all the time,” said Bill Zadick, the team’s head coach, about Burroughs. “Jordan has defeated some of their heroes in key matches in the past, so they look up to him.”

Bender has accompanied the team on four trips to Iran. “We never had issues, as I recall,” he said.

American wrestlers did not make their first trip back to Iran after the 1979 revolution until 1998. But since then, they have visited the country more than a dozen times.

Wrestling can be a highly emotional sport, Bender said, but the athletes realize they are viewed as ambassadors of their country. “This is a highly competitive, mano a mano sport,” Bender said. “Sometimes people get poked in the eye. People can get angry. So we stress that here it is extra important to keep your posture, shake hands. Luckily, all the guys understand they represent the U.S. on and off the mat.”

Iran’s wrestling federation sent a former wrestler to the hotel to protect the team members in case someone might not be a fan. But there, as during the event in Kermanshah, all of the Iranians they met were all smiles. It was hard to believe, someone said, that Iran is anti-American.

“Is it true there is a mural in the city center that says ‘death to America’?” Bender wanted to know. “Because I haven’t noticed any of that.”

(Source: nytimes.com)